Automated toilet paper dispenser

ABSTRACT

A toilet paper dispenser is provided that is operable in an automatic dispensing mode and a manual dispensing mode. The dispenser comprises a housing for containing a toilet paper roll; a drive roller engagable with the roll; a motor; and a one-way coupling that couples the motor to the drive roller in a first direction to automatically dispense paper from the dispenser and decouples same in an opposite second direction, thereby enabling toilet paper to be manually dispensed in the first direction.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/423,100, filed on Jun. 8, 2006, now pending, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/245,585,filed on Oct. 7, 2005, now pending, where these two applications areincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to paper dispensers and particularly toaway-from-home type toilet paper dispensers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A common concern in providing toilet paper in public facilities iswastage and theft of toilet paper. Known toilet paper dispensers,whether single roll or double roll, dispense a user-selectable portionof the toilet paper roll stored in the dispenser. The toilet paper rollmay be perforated, in which case the user unwinds a desired number ofperforated segments from the roll then tears the segments away from theroll along one of the perforations. Alternatively, the toilet paper rollmay be non-perforated, in which case the user must press the paper rollportion against a knife, a serrated edge or other severing means in thedispenser to separate the portion from the roll.

In both cases, the user has unlimited access to the roll of toilet paperin the dispenser. Wastage occurs when the user pulls a long portion ofthe roll from the dispenser and does not use it, leaving the portionhanging out of the dispenser and/or laying on the floor. Worse, abusecan occur by unwinding the entire roll and stealing the paper, orleaving the paper unused and wasted.

Another problem with known toilet paper dispensers is that userstypically have to reach under the dispensers to grab the leading edge ofthe toilet paper roll, then pull the leading edge downwards in order toextract paper from the dispenser. This can be an awkward process,especially if the dispenser is mounted low, or if there is aninsufficient tail protruding under the dispenser for the user to obtaina firm grip. Persons with disabilities or restricted mobility can findoperating such dispensers to be particularly challenging. Sometimes whenthe paper is particularly fragile or when the roll is difficult torotate, the paper segment separates from the roll by the downwards pullby the user, leaving the user with a much shorter portion than intended.

Some dispensers are provided with a rotary knob on the exterior of thedispenser to aid the user in dispensing paper. However, many users arereluctant to touch the dispenser, as such dispensers can be dirty andcan contain bacteria or other unhygienic material.

In view of the above, it would be desirable to provide a toilet paperdispenser that can solve at least some of the shortcomings of presenttoilet paper dispensers.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a general objective of the invention to provide a hands-freetoilet paper dispenser that solves at least some of the problems inpresent toilet paper dispensers. A particular objective of the inventionis to provide an improved toilet paper dispenser that can automaticallyadvance a toilet paper portion of predetermined length for the user. Afurther objective of the invention is to provide a toilet paperdispenser that can operate in both an automated dispensing mode and amanual dispensing mode.

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a toiletpaper dispenser comprising a housing for containing a toilet paper roll;a drive roller engagable with the roll; a motor; and a one-way couplingthat couples the motor to the drive roller in a first direction toautomatically dispense paper from the dispenser and decouples same in anopposite second direction, thereby enabling toilet paper to be manuallydispensed in the first direction.

The dispenser can have a manual dispensing means that is rotationallycoupled to the toilet paper roll and operable by a user to rotate theroll in the first direction to manually dispense paper from thedispenser. The dispenser can further comprise a roll support rotatablycoupled to the housing and which serves to receive a core of the roll.In such case, the manual dispensing means is a knob coupled to the rollsupport and operable to rotate the roll support thereby rotating theroll.

The dispenser can further comprise a sensor mounted on the housing and acontroller communicative with the sensor and the motor. The controlleris programmed to operate the motor when the sensor is activated. A powersupply such as a battery can be electrically coupled to the motor toprovide power thereto.

The drive roller can be positioned in the housing to engage a leadingedge of the roll. When the roll is perforated, a secondary pair of pinchrollers can be provided to grip the leading edge of the roll and preventperforations in the leading edge of the roll from breaking about thedrive roller. When the roll is non-perforated, severing means like aknife can be provided to sever a dispensed portion from the roll.

Alternatively, the drive roller can be positioned in the housing toengage the surface of the roll. In such case, the drive roller can bemovably connected to the housing thereby being movable to maintaincontact with rolls of varying diameter. More particularly, the driveroller can be movably connected to the housing by a track in the housingin which the roller is slidable therealong. Biasing means can beprovided to bias the roller against the roll. The motor can be suspendedfrom the roller thereby serving as the biasing means.

Alternatively, the drive roller can be the roll support that receives acore of the roll. In such case, the roll support is rotationally coupledto the motor by the one way bearing. Manual dispensing means can also berotationally coupled to the roll support to allow a user to manuallydispense portions from the roll.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIGS. 1(a) to (d) are respective front elevation, top plan, sideelevation and perspective views of an automated toilet paper dispenseraccording to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram view of certain components of thetoilet paper dispenser.

FIGS. 3(a) and (b) are side and perspective views, respectively, of amotor and gears for coupling to rollers of the dispenser. FIG. 3(c)shows the motor and gears coupled to a drive roller and driven roller ofthe dispenser.

FIGS. 4(a) to (d) are respective front elevation, top plan, sideelevation, and back elevation (with battery pack removed) views of anautomated toilet paper dispenser according to a second embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram view of certain components of thetoilet paper dispenser according to the second embodiment of theinvention.

FIGS. 6(a) to (c) are respective front elevation, top plan, and sideelevation views of an automated toilet paper dispenser according to athird embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram view of certain components of thetoilet paper dispenser according to the third embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of certain components of the toiletpaper dispenser modified to dispense a perforated toilet paper roll.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a portion of a two-roll toilet paperdispenser according to another embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Directional terms such as “top”, “bottom”, “right”, and “left” are usedin this description merely to aid the reader understand the embodimentsof the invention and are not to be construed as limiting the embodimentsto any particular orientation during operation or in connection toanother apparatus.

According to one embodiment of the invention and referring to FIGS. 1(a)to (d), a toilet paper dispenser 10 is provided that is particularlysuited for away-from-home use. The dispenser 10 is motorized and has asensor 12 that can be activated by a user to cause the dispenser 10 toautomatically dispense a portion of a toilet paper roll A stored insidethe dispenser 10 (toilet paper roll A not shown in FIG. 1(d)). Thedispenser 10 is also provided with a manual dispense mechanism 14 whichenables the user to manually cause the dispenser 10 to dispense toiletpaper, e.g. in the event of a power failure or a dead battery thatcauses the automatic dispensing feature to stop working.

As can be seen in FIG. 1(c), the dispenser 10 has a housing 16 and adoor 18 hingedly coupled to the housing 16 by hinges 20 at the bottom ofthe housing 16. The door 18 can be locked by a locking mechanism 22located at the top of the housing; such locking mechanism 22 is aconventional key-based lock and is thus not described in detail here.The door 18 can be unlocked and opened to allow the loading of thetoilet paper roll A. A dispensing opening 24 is provided at the bottomof the housing for toilet paper to be dispensed therethrough.

Referring to FIG. 2, the dispenser 10 comprises a number of componentsthat work together to automatically dispense a portion of the toiletpaper roll (hereinafter “automatic dispensing assembly”). The automaticdispensing assembly comprises a motor 26 electrically coupled to abattery pack 28 and a drive roller 30. A control circuit 31 iselectrically communicative with the sensor 12 and the motor 26 and isprogrammed to actuate the drive roller 30 when a signal is received fromthe sensor 12. In this embodiment, the sensor 12 is located on thehousing door 18 but can be optionally located elsewhere on the dispenser10 in a place that enables a user to conveniently activate the sensor12.

The toilet paper roll A as shown in FIG. 2 is a standard non-perforatedcore-type roll. A serrated knife 31 is provided near the opening 24 forsevering a portion from the roll A. A user severs the portion from theroll A by pressing the portion against the knife 31. Alternatively, theknife 31 or another suitable cutting means can be movably mounted to thedispenser 10 and coupled to an actuator (not shown) which moves theknife 31 against a sheet of the roll A to sever the portion therefrom.

The roll A is loaded into dispenser 10 by sliding the hollow cylindricalcore over a cylindrical support 32 extending horizontally from thehousing 16. The support 32 is freely rotatably mounted to the verticalwall of the housing 16 and has a plurality of fins 33 that bite into theroll core, thereby creating a friction fit that causes the roll A torotate with the roll support 32. Alternatively, the cylindrical support32 is fixed to the housing 16 and is made of a low-friction plastic orsimilar material, or coated with a low friction material to enable theroll A to rotate freely about the fixed support 32 with minimum effort.

After the paper roll A is loaded in the dispenser and while the door 18is still opened, the leading edge of the paper roll A is threadedbetween a pair of rollers, namely, the drive roller 30 and an adjacentfree-spinning roller 34. One or both rollers 30, 34 are spring-mountedto the housing 16 to enable the rollers 30, 34 to be separated to form agap and allow the leading edge of the roll A to thread through the gap.When the rollers 30, 34 are released, the springs (not shown) cause therollers 30, 34 to apply a force onto the paper roll A.

The rollers 30, 34 have a rolling surface with a sufficient coefficientof friction that rotation of the roller surface 30, 34 will pull thepaper roll A therethrough.

Referring to FIGS. 3(a)-(c), the drive roller 30 is rotationally coupledto the motor 26 by a one-way bearing 36 and a plurality of reductiondrive gears 38(a)-(b). The motor 26 is a DC-powered gear head motormounted on the base of the housing 16. A suitable motor is a JamecoReliapro model 151440 with 4.5-12 VDC operating range and a no loadspeed of 69 RPM; however, other motors with similar specifications canbe readily substituted. The motor 26 has a drive shaft 40 which connectsa motor drive gear 38 (a). The motor drive gear 38(a) is rotatablycoupled to a roller drive gear 38(b). The roller drive gear 38(b) isfixed to an outside surface of the one-way bearing 36. The outsidesurface of the one-way bearing 36 is rotationally coupled to an insidesurface of the one-way bearing 36 in a single direction as is known inthe art. The inside surface of the one-way bearing 36 is in turn isfixed to a shaft (not shown) coupled to the drive roller 30 andextending along the rotational axis thereof. The drive gears 38(a)-(b)serve as reduction gears between the motor 26 and drive roller 30.

The one-way bearing 36 is aligned to transfer torque from the motor 26to the drive roller 30 and yet allow the drive roller 30 to rotatefreely in the drive direction. Therefore, when the motor 26 is notoperating, the dispenser 10 can still be manually operated to dispensetoilet paper by the user manually pulling downwards on the leading edgeof the roll A protruding from the dispenser 10. The one-way bearing willallow the drive roller 30 to spin in the drive direction even though themotor 26 is not operating. The user can also use the manual dispensingmechanism 14 to assist in the manual dispensing of the roll A from thedispenser 10. This mechanism 14 comprises a knob located on the exteriorof the door 18 and connected to the support 24. When the knob is rotatedby the user, the support 24 rotates and paper is unwound from the rollA. (If the support 24 is fixed, the knob can be directly attached to theroll, e.g. by spikes that penetrate into the side of the roll A.

The ability to manually dispense is particularly useful when power isunavailable to the motor 26, e.g. power outage or dead batteries.Without such one-way bearing 36, the rotational resistance presented bythe reduction gears 38(a) and (b) and motor 26 would make it verydifficult to rotate the drive roller 30. Additionally, the one-waybearing 36 allows the drive roller 30 to rotate at a faster rate thanthe rate as driven by the motor 26. This permits the user to manuallyadvance the paper out of the dispenser 10 at a faster rate than is beingadvanced by the motor 26.

Although the use of a one-way bearing is described here, other one-wayrotational couplings as known in the art can be substituted. Othersuitable one-way couplings include one-way clutches and one-wayratchets.

Referring to FIG. 2, the motor 26 is one component of an automaticdispensing assembly that enables the dispenser 10 to automaticallydispense toilet paper segments to the user. These components include themotor 26, the DC power supply 28, the control circuit 31, the sensor 12,and a door open disconnect switch (not shown).

The DC power supply 28 is electrically coupled to the motor 26 by thedoor open disconnect switch and the control circuit 31. In thisembodiment, the DC power supply 28 is a battery pack capable ofproviding 6 or 9 volt output. Alternatively or additionally (but notshown), the DC power supply 28 can be an inverter that connects to an ACpower source, e.g. a building's AC power outlet. The inverter convertsthe AC power into DC for use by the motor 26. The door open disconnectswitch is located on the dispenser 10 such that the switch opens whenthe door 18 is opened. This prevents the motor 26 from operating andcausing injury when the door 18 is opened and dispenser 10 is beingserviced.

The control circuit 31 includes a programmable logic controller (PLC)programmed to control the automatic dispensing operation of thedispenser 10. The control circuit 31 is electrically coupled andcommunicative with the sensor 12, the motor 26, the power supply 28 viathe door open disconnect switch. The sensor 12 can be any type of sensorthat detects the presence of the user, and can for example be aproximity sensor such as an IC digital capacitance sensor, a motionsensor, or an infrared sensor such as a pyroelectric sensor that detectsthe user's body heat. The sensor 12 is powered by the power supply 28via the control circuit 31. When the sensor 12 detects the user, itsends a user detected signal to the control circuit 31. The PLC of thecontrol circuit 31 is programmed to check the sensor 12 and whendetecting the user detected signal, to send a motor actuation signal tothe motor 26. In response to the motor actuation signal, the motor 26activates and rotates the drive roller 30 a selected number of rotationscorresponding to a selected length of paper towel roll to be dispensed.This length can of course be adjusted by changing the programming of thecontrol circuit 32.

The PLC is programmed to wait for a selected period of time beforechecking the sensor 84 again; this wait period provides the user withenough time to obtain and use the dispensed paper segment, leave thevicinity of the dispenser 10, or request another paper segment. The waittime also can serve to discourage a user meaning to waste paper bycontinually extracting paper from the roll.

Referring to FIG. 8, the dispenser 10 of this first embodiment can bemodified to accept a standard perforated core-type roll B. Two pairs ofrollers are provided to grip the roll sheet B, namely a pair of mainrollers 30, 34 and a pair of secondary pinch rollers 39. At least oneroller from each roller pair are spring-loaded so that continuouspressure can be applied to the roll sheet B. Like in the firstembodiment, the main rollers comprise the drive roller 30 coupled to themotor 26 and the driven roller 34. The pinch rollers 39 are both freespinning and serve to prevent the perforations in the sheet frombreaking about the main rollers 30, causing the tail of the sheet B tobe lost within the dispenser 10. As the user can now easily tear aperforated portion from the sheet B, the cutting knife 31 is no longerrequired.

Referring to FIGS. 4(a)-(d) and 5 and according to a second embodimentof the invention, the automated dispensing assembly of the dispenser 10is modified so that the rollers 30, 34 are replaced by a drive roller100 which is in direct contact with the surface of the paper roll A. Thedrive roller 100 has an axle 102 that is movably mounted to the housing16 and is biased against the paper roll A such that the drive roller 100is always in contact with the roll A regardless of the roll's size. Theaxle 102 extends through a track 104 in the housing 16 and is weightedat one end so that gravity biases the drive roller 100 downwards throughthe track 104 and against the roll A. Alternatively, the drive roller100 can be biased using springs or other biasing means known in the art.

The surface of the drive roller 100 has a sufficient coefficient offriction to rotate the roll A when the motor 26 rotates the drive roller100. The motor 26 is also movably mounted along the track 104 and isrotationally coupled to the drive roller 100 using the one way bearingand gears as described in the first embodiment. Alternatively, the motor26 can be fixed to the housing 26 and rotationally coupled to the driveroller 100 using a series of gears and chain as is well known in the art(not shown).

Like the first embodiment, the drive roller 100 is coupled to the motor26 by the one way bearing 36. Therefore, a user can manually operate thedispenser 10 either by pulling on the leading edge of the roll A, orturning the knob of the manual dispensing assembly 14, or both.

Referring to FIGS. 6(a)-(c) and 7 and according to a third embodiment ofthe invention, the automated dispensing assembly of the dispenser 10 ismodified so that the support 32 is rotatably coupled to the housing 16,and is driven by the motor 26. In other words, the support 32 acts as adrive roller, and is coupled to the motor 26 by the one way bearing andreduction gears as described in the previous embodiments. Like in theprevious embodiments, the knob 14 is provided on the door 18 and iscoupled to the support 32 such that rotation of the knob 14 by the usercauses the support 32 to rotate and paper to be manually dispensed,whether or not the motor 26 is operating.

Because the roll A diameter diminishes as paper is dispensed, the lengthof toilet paper dispensed is not constant relative to the number ofrotations of the roll support 32. Therefore, the dispenser 10 in thisembodiment is provided with a roller sensor 50 which is in contact withthe leading edge of the roll A. The control circuit 31 is programmed todetermine the length of toilet paper dispensed from the measurementsmade by the sensor 50 then stop the rotation of the roll support 32 whenthe predetermined length has been dispensed. While a roller sensor isshown in this embodiment, other sensors can that can measure the lengthof paper dispensed be provided as is known in the art.

Although the present described embodiments all relate to a single rolltoilet paper dispenser, it will be readily apparent to a person skilledin the art to adapt the automated and manual dispensing features of thesingle roll dispenser for a double roll dispenser such as the dispensershown in FIG. 9.

All of the above U.S. patents, U.S. patent application publications,U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applicationsand non-patent publications referred to in this specification and/orlisted in the Application Data Sheet, are incorporated herein byreference, in their entirety.

While the present invention has been described herein by the preferredembodiments, it will be understood to those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and added to the invention. The changes andalternatives are considered within the spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

1. A toilet paper dispenser comprising (a) a housing for containing atoilet paper roll; (b) a drive roller engagable with the roll; (c) amotor; and (c) a one-way coupling that couples the motor to the driveroller in a first direction to automatically dispense paper from thedispenser and decouples same in an opposite second direction, therebyenabling toilet paper to be manually dispensed in the first direction.2. A toilet paper dispenser as claimed in claim 1 further comprising amanual dispensing means rotationally coupled to the toilet paper rolland operable by a user to rotate the roll in the first direction tomanually dispense paper from the dispenser.
 3. A toilet paper dispenseras claimed in claim 2 wherein the dispenser further comprises a rollsupport rotatably coupled to the housing and for receiving a core of theroll, and wherein the manual dispensing means is a knob coupled to theroll support and operable to rotate the roll support thereby rotatingthe roll.
 4. A toilet paper dispenser as claimed in claim 1 furthercomprising a sensor mounted on the housing and a controllercommunicative with the sensor and the motor, the controller programmedto operate the motor when the sensor is activated.
 5. A toilet paperdispenser as claimed in claim 4 further comprising a power supplyelectrically coupled to the motor.
 6. A toilet paper dispenser asclaimed claim 5 wherein the power supply is a battery.
 7. A toilet paperdispenser as claimed in claim 4 wherein the drive roller is positionedin the housing to engage a leading edge of the roll.
 8. A toilet paperdispenser as claimed in claim 4 wherein the drive roller is positionedin the housing to engage the surface of the roll.
 9. A toilet paperdispenser as claimed in claim 8 wherein the drive roller is movablyconnected to the housing thereby being movable to maintain contact withrolls of different diameters or a roll with varying diameter.
 10. Atoilet paper dispenser as claimed in claim 9 wherein the drive roller ismovably connected to the housing by a track in the housing in which theroller is slidable therealong.
 11. A toilet paper dispenser as claimedin claim 10 further comprising biasing means that bias the rolleragainst the roll.
 12. A toilet paper dispenser as claimed in claim 11wherein the motor is suspended from the roller thereby serving as thebiasing means.
 13. A toilet paper dispenser as claimed in claim 4wherein the drive roller is a roll support that receives a core of theroll.
 14. A toilet paper dispenser as claimed in claim 13 furthercomprising a sensor for measuring a length of paper dispensed from theroll, the sensor being communicative with the controller.
 15. A toiletpaper dispenser as claimed in claim 4 wherein the controller isprogrammed to delay activating the motor until after a selected periodof time has elapsed since the last time the motor was activated.